On a Wing and a Prayer . . . When I began my first business venture back in 1994, it was on a wing and a prayer in many ways. I had a planned start up but six months prior to that, I went head to head with my boss over, of all things, vacation. I had planned one and requested the time; she said I didn’t have the time available. I took my vacation and returned to no job but a vacation paycheck (I was right but unemployed!) I swung into action and moved rapidly to put my launch into place including picking up a job working nights and weekends to make ends meet since I had no clients for the first 90 days.
Passion Yields Profits . . . This was well before today’s availability of a coach on every corner to expedite your progress and hold you accountable. Instead I had no mentors and felt my way forward with total passion for my talent, my industry, and my clients. I treated clients how I would want to be treated and went from being buried in debt (think $70K) to debt free and making a comfortable six figures in just 36 months. Was it easy? Heck no, I worked 15 hour days often six days a week, and I was on fire with excitement and enthusiasm. I innovated when I needed to, I created as was necessary. Nothing could stop me.
Attitude Governs Altitude . . . There is an old cliché that I hope you’ll forgive me for using, but it really is a truism “attitude, not aptitude, governs altitude.” When you are in love with your business, you are fired up over it, and you are determined to succeed, nothing and no one can stand in your way. The money does follow and flow. Will it be fast? Not necessarily, but it is certain. You have to be willing to do whatever it takes and this may take you beyond what you thought was just your best to get where you want to go. Get there you will.
It Isn’t About How Talented You Are, It’s About How Many Know About You . . . It isn’t talent that matters as much as heart and marketing. Want an example, think about Andy Warhol, he was not a great talent, nor even particularly original. Warhol was a maverick marketer and had unbridled passion for his craft. There are examples in industry after industry of those who rose to the top on heart and marketing while their peers who may have had more talent or better techniques toiled in relative obscurity.
Proving Your Worth Sets You Up for Success . . . It is a well known fact that all too often the A-students in college wind up working for the C-students later in life. The A students often had it easy with getting good grades, while the C-students had to work much harder. That dedication and focus they honed, those challenges and hurdles they overcame forced them to be more creative, more inventive, more solution oriented, and generally better business people. I’m not suggesting that if you are an A-player you won’t succeed; I am saying that you need the heart, passion, and fire in your belly coupled with your talent.
It’s Not About How Hot Your Ideas Are But How Much Fire There is in Your Actions . . . This world is littered with talented souls who never made much of a difference in their lives or the lives of those around them because they never got fired up about anything. They never focused their attentions on one talent, one topic, one industry. Others like Sir Richard Branson make a huge difference in the lives of many regularly because he takes his focus and passion for each idea then he hands it to the best people to bring it to reality and moves to the next idea. He is fired up about each idea completely and carries it out with a team. Whether you have a team or fly solo your passion is essential to how high you will fly. When you harness your passion you’ll unleash the real you and find yourself unstoppable.
Your comments are welcome always! Are you getting where you want to go with passion and profit, or limping along with too much talent and not enough fire?
